Here is a short lesson I created for church organists who on occasion may be desirous to employ a simple
re-harmonization device without getting too carried away.  I apologize for the little rant in the beginning of the video about organists getting in the way of the congregation.  I too am a frequent offender of this practice.  It is part of the organist ego.  The devil makes us do it.  Bach's congregation had the same plaint.

This device is simple.  Whenever the melody is on the third tone of a chord, or you change the chord to make that note the third, leave the melody where it is but raise the chord up half a step to it's minor equivalent, then drop it down to its dominant seventh.  Keep the voicing open as that will leave a lot of room for inner linear movement and a lot of room other chordal substitutions and leading.  If you don't know what that means, that is okay, listen to your ear. It knows.

I often throw something like this in toward the the end of a verse to signal to the congregation that I am about to do something such as a key change or interlude.  I usually only throw in interludes when the liturgical movement calls for it because the people on the dais need more time to get where they're going or to do what they're doing.  If a choir is processing and they just hit the stairs to the balcony, I may do the same thing. 

Personally, if I am pew-side of a church, I like to sing the harmony to the hymns and when the organist doesn't play what's on the page it renders me mute.  Organists need to be cognizant of the text, too.  I remember being at a music convention for Pastoral Musicians and on the fifth verse of a hymn, the text stated something about not toiling or mourning for, the gentle presence of God will carry you through the tough times.  I thought it ironic that the organist was re-harmonizing, ratcheting up the crescendo pedal and tossing out trite-trumpet-triplets all as we were singing words such as "quiet" and "gentle."

Read your texts, love your people, help them to sing, hold their hand if necessary.  Think of the church in the theater model; the congregants are the actors, God is the audience and you are the prompter.  Prompt, don't hijack.

Some funerals are joyful celebrations of life while others can be like - funerals.  Organists are the greatest offenders of the latter.

New organists often ask what kind of music to play for funerals.  All too often they think they have to play slow, soft and with lots of whole notes.  I hate hearing the organ played that way for any occasion but especially at funerals.  Having grown up in a 19 room house where my parents operated a rest home for elderly woman, I experienced a lot of death but mostly the love of life. 

I doubt any of us would want flat, boring, sad, subdued and dirge-like funerals upon our passing.  I suspect many organists play this way because they are too afraid to sound any other way because they think that is how funerals are supposed to sound and the books out there currently offer nothing but dirges. 

For the prelude, or gathering period, I would mostly improvise so that I could keep an eye on the pastor and watch what everyone else is doing and I could quickly respond to assembly dynamics as they were gathering.  My music was always joyful, often fast but light in registration.

In my previous parish I was also charged with the task of meeting with the family of the deceased  to help them choose readings and music.  I would also meet with those who were asked to do readings to instruct them, give them copies to practice and explain what was going to happen.  I would ask the family if they wanted the mood of the service to be subdued or a joyful celebration of life and they always chose the later.   It didn't hurt to have a pastor whose funeral homily was consistently about death being a birth into new life.

During the funeral, since the console was only about 15 feet from the front pew, the family always looked to me for cues and when I played something with a joie de vivre, they would look at me and smile.  During the Communion procession they would pass by my bench and most of the time, touch me on the shoulder or whisper a thank you.

Here are examples of how I would play both slow and fast.  Again, nothing from books - so that I could be in the moment:
http://youtu.be/VhhO6DAe2A0
http://youtu.be/QN40wHW6s2g    (actually a little bit slower but with the same gist)

For the Offertory (Preparation of the Gifts) or Communion, if we were not singing a song or hymn, I would play like that.  There are dozens of books out there with music intended for funerals but anything from classical or contemporary literature works well.  They don't have to have slow and quiet.  As I mentioned earlier, if the organists improvises, they can be in the moment and respond musically and dynamically to mood of the room.  In many cases, can even influence the mood in the room.  A skilled and cognizant organist can even control the talking and even volume of the assembly's discourse. 

Have you noticed that at a lot of funerals people will use humor about the deceased to help them get through the pain?  Music can serve in that capacity, too.  Not by playing "funny," but by playing joyfully, excitement, varied dynamics and registration changes. 

Funerals are for the living.  Here is a little story for the organist who is too afraid to play with joyful expectation because they thing funerals should be soft and slow:
God said to his people,
"Step toward the edge."
and the people replied,
"No, it is too high."
God repeated his command,
"Step toward the edge."
and the people replied,
"No, we are afraid."
God then said,
"Do not be afraid.  Step toward the edge."
So the people stepped toward the edge,
. . . and God pushed them.
. . . and they flew.

Close the book.  Step toward the edge.

-Malcolm.

A new study came out today that said 49% of the drivers on the road text while they drive.  Another study said 4 out of 5 college students text while driving.  Of course, politicians will now want to draft new legislation to increase the penalties on top of the already existing penalties for texting while driving.  Police departments will get additional grant money to purchase more vehicles so they can peer down into your vehicle to see if you are texting in your lap.  Senators will get to appear on TV news spots so they can inform the public of the wonderful job they are doing to protect you.

Texting laws don't actually make our roads more safe, they make them less safe.  If 50% of drivers are texting, which is against the law, making another law isn't going to stop them.   They obviously don't care about the law or they think they can get away with it (those criminals).  When cell phones first came out, I used to see people texting all the time by holding their phone up in front of their steering wheel so they could see both the road and their phone.  Now that it is against the law and they don't want to get caught, they text in their laps where they have to take their eyes off the road.  This is more dangerous than playing with your GPS, radio or cruise control.  The roads were more safe when they held their phones up to the road.  These laws have probably caused more accidents than they prevented.  People who text are not going to stop texting.  Period.  It's against the law to drive drunk, too.  What about marijuana, burglary, and prostitution?  Laws only stop honest people because either they are afraid of getting caught or the are educated by the law.

If our politicians rescinded the texting law and promoted education about the dangers of texting while driving, our roads would be more safe because the people who don't care about their own life or your life will at least be texting back up in the open where they can  maintain partial eye contact with the road.  This way, also, the taxpayer won't have to foot the bill for police departments to purchase new undercover SUV and vans used to catch people texting.  There will also be less arrests, court costs, incarceration, fines, increased insurance rates and the ancillary burden to the pocketbooks of the people who don't break the law.

Our politicians are excellent at creating laws that don't work and cost us more than they save.  Skylar Capo was 11 years old when she rescued a woodpecker who was about to be eaten by a cat.  Since the bird was injured, she wanted to nurse it back to health and she carried it to a local hardware store to get a cage for it.  While there, a USFWS agent issued a $600 ticket to Skylar and informed her that she faced up to one year in prison for violating a federal law against transporting migratory birds. 

Carey Mills procured all the state and local permits to build a camp on his waterfront property.  The day he began clearing for what was to be the foundation, the EPA arrested him for violating the Clean Water Act and he did 21 months in prison despite getting permits from the state. 

Steven Kinder ran a caviar business on the Ohio River which forms the Ohio-Kentucky border.  Mr. Kinder was arrested because he reported that his business was in Kentucky but was seen harvesting from "Ohio waters."  He faced $250,000 in fines and five years in prison.  He took a plea deal for three years probation and a $5,000 fine.

Lisa Snyder was a say-at-home mom and as a favor to her Michigan neighbors, would watch the local children for 15 minutes every morning until they caught the bus - because the bus stop was in front of her house.  When the police caught wind of this, she was threatened with 90 days in jail for operating a daycare and offering "babysitting services" without a license. 

Jeff Counceller and his wife found an injured baby deer and nursed it back to health.  Jeff was charged with possession of a deer and the animal was to be euthanized per state law.  Fortunately it "escaped."  The greater lesson is not to post pictures to Facebook.

Eddie Anderson of Idaho took his son camping where they found an "Indian" arrowhead.  He found himself facing two years in prison for theft of archaeological resources and  a $1,500 fine but took a plea deal for one year of probation.  The greater lesson is not to post these finds to Facebook.

Nancy Black operates a whale watching business and had videotape of a crew member whistling at whales to get them to stay near the boat.  After viewing the footage, NOAA burst into her home demanding the unedited tapes of the day in question.  She is facing 20 years in prison for withholding evidence.  The greater lesson is not to post your life to Facebook.

Ashley Warden was fined $2,500 after her three year old son Dillan pulled down his pants to urinate in his front yard.  A police officer spotted him committing this crime of exposure and he was facing charges and being put on the sex offender registry. 

Ann videotaped her husband changing their grandson's diaper.  Grandpa tickled the boy's "new-no" as he wriggled with glee and laughter. After posting pictures on their Facebook page, Ann was charged with distribution of child pornography and her husband did five years for molestation.  They are now registered sex offenders and were forced to move from their home of 40 years due to residency restrictions.  

Gary Harrington dug three ponds on his property to control rain water and snow runoff.  Gary was sentenced to 30 days in jail for collecting rainwater without a permit, which is against the law in Oregon.  He is now forced to continually drain his ponds.

Abner Schoenwetter of Florida shipped some marginally small lobsters in plastic bags to prevent leakage.  By law, lobster can only be transported in cardboard.  Abner was sentenced to eight years in prison because he didn't know of this regulation. 

Wallerstein and Wylie conducted a study of 3,000 New Yorkers who have never been arrested and found that 91% of them have "innocently" committed felonies but were not caught.  100% of them committed a misdemeanor of some type.  The next time you go out in public, know this, you are most likely walking among criminals. 

What can you do to reverse the orvercriminalization caused by politicians who feel they have to do SOMEthing in order to justify their high salaries?  Sign up for email updates from Heritage.org, NACDL.org, RightOnCrime.com, ACLJ.org, JusticeFellowship.org, ACLU.org, ALEC.org, FAMM.org.  Share your concerns with your elected representatives.  Demand that they focus on rescinding laws rather than pyramiding more laws on top of more laws.